Content Strategy for Health Care: The Book

I’m working on a book about content strategy for health care. I’ve thought about writing a book for a very long time—at least 5 years. I’ve worked on at least 4 different book ideas in that time period, and I wouldn’t even say I’ve discarded the others…there may be more to come on them. But this topic is one that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. So that’s the book I’ve got to write!

I’ve worked in health care off and on for my entire career, but continuously since I started Creek Content in 2008. Health care is its own little unicorn in a lot of ways, and the industry would be the first to tell you that it’s different from everything else. One of the ways it demonstrates this is by its very name: If you’re in health care, you spell the name of your industry as healthcare. (You’ll notice that I typically don’t; yes, I’m an iconoclast, but also an editor at heart. Either way, I’m going with m-w.com and every other American and spelling it health care. My SEO rankings will no doubt hate me for it.)

As I’ve worked on the strategy for this book, one thing became obvious early on. There are a LOT of different audiences for a book about health care and content:

Writers

Editors

Marketers

Product designers

Technical staff

Clinicians

Business people

I could make that list a lot longer by segmenting several of those categories even farther, but you get the idea.

As high-tech as health care is on the delivery side, it’s simultaneously come very, very late to the party when it comes to using technology in the business. Make no mistake—the industry is right in the middle of catching up, and the amount of tech spending going on in health care delivery and in the business of health care is significant.

For a variety of reasons, a lot of the catching up feels just as frenzied as you might expect.

That’s where I think content strategy should come in. You might think that’s a pretty niche idea to throw at a broad business problem, but I’ll argue it’s actually a great way to tackle the challenges that technology and innovation are presenting for health care today.

Content is information provided for an audience. When you start there, you realize a lot of content is being created, licensed, and provided to many audiences in the health care process today. And if we’re not managing that strategically, we’re rapidly losing control of our assets and perhaps the entire situation.

In health care, the issues are even more critical; they literally can be life or death. It’s essential to get the right information in front of the right audience at the right time. So content strategy matters a lot.

My book makes the business case for content strategy in health care. Right now, I’m writing, talking to people in health care, and writing some more. I’m making some plans for how I’d like to publish and share the book, and I’m hoping for a fall release date.

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If you’re in health care, insurance, financial services, or another highly regulated field, you don’t need a copywriter. You don’t need another marketer. You need professionals who understand the complex problems you face, and who can help you reach your customers with the information they need to make wise decisions.